Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang is a politician and educationalist who served as Minister for Education in Ghana. She was appointed in 2013 by President John Mahama after the 2012 Ghanaian general election and served until January 2017 when the Nana Akuffo-Addo administration was elected to power. In July of 2020, she was chosen as the running mate to the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress, H.E. John Dramani Mahama. She is a member of the National Democratic Congress. Professor Opoku-Agyemang, former Vice-Chancellor of University of Cape Coast, Ghana, was the first female Vice-Chancellor of a state University in Ghana. She assumed duty on 1 October 2008, succeeding Emmanuel Addow-Obeng.
Early life and education
Born on 22 November 1951 in Cape Coast, Ghana, Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang attended Anglican Girls' Secondary School at Koforidua and Aburi Presby Girls' School. She then had her secondary education at the Wesley Girls High School in Cape Coast from 1964 to 1971. She completed B.Ed. in English and French at the University of Cape Coast in 1977 and obtained her Masters and Doctorate degrees from York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1980 and 1986 respectively.
Career
Professor Opoku-Agyemang taught and worked at the University of Cape Coast, starting in 1986. She has held various academic positions including Head of the Department of English, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Warden of Adehye Hall, Valco Trust Fund Post-Graduate Hostel, and Dean of School of Graduate Studies and Research. From 1997, she has held the position of Academic Director of the School for International Training in the History and Cultures of the African Diaspora. From 2008 to 2012 she was the University's Vice Chancellor. In March, 2007, she was one of five scholars selected to deliver presentations during the 200th Anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. In October 2009, she was elected Ghana's representative to the Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation. Ahead of the 2012 general elections, Jane Opoku Agyemang moderated the debate with Kojo Oppong Nkrumah. Between February 2013 and January 2017 she served as the Education Minister of Ghana. On 26 October 2018, she became the Chancellor of the Women's University in Africa located in Zimbabwe. She has served on many local and international boards and committees such as the Centre for Democratic Governance,, the Editorial Board of The Harriet Tubman Series on the African Diaspora, the Africa Initiative in Canada,and the College of Physicians and Surgeons as Eminent Citizen.
Politics
Between February 2013 and January 2017 she served as the Education Minister of Ghana. Opoku-Agyemang was selected as the presidential running mate for the National Democratic Congress on July 6, 2020 for Ghana’s December 2020 General elections.
Opoku-Agyemang has been honoured with honorary degrees from the University of West Indies and Winston-Salem University. She has also received an award for Global leadership from the University of South Florida in Tampa. She has also received the Officer of the Order of the Volta award for Academic Distinction and Ghana Women of Excellence Award in the Education category.She has been acknowledged for Outstanding Performance in Advancing International Education, School for International Training, Vermont, USA on two occasions.
